Liquid dispensing applicator



Oct. 4, 1960 1.. L. LERNER ETAL 2,954,574

LIQUID DISPENSING APPLICATOR Filed Sept. 25. 1958 United States Patent F LIQUID DISPENSING APPLICATOR Louis L. Lerner and Albert Safianolf, Chicago, 111., assignors to The Gillette Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 25,1958, Ser. No. 763,388

4 Claims. (Cl. 15-138) (This invention relates to a dispenser and applicator for fluid materials and pertains more specifically to a dispenser and applicator adapted to be mounted upon a container for use in applying liquid treating materials, particularly hair-treating liquids.

One object of the present invention is to provide a dispenser and applicator which is arranged for manual actuation giving positive control of the amount of fluid disposed at each actuation.

Another object is to provide a dispenser and applicator having an elastically resilient, fluid-pervious, open-celled sponge member in combination with a manually controlled valve for distributing and applying the fluid treating material simultaneously over an extended area.

Still another object is to provide a dispenser and applicat01- having manually actuated control means for controlling the quantity and rate of flow of fluid being dispensed.

A further object is to provide a dispenser and applicator, adapted to be mounted on a container for the fluid to be dispensed, having an elastically resilient, fluidpervious, open-celled sponge member for receiving the fluid from the container and dispensing it over a predetermined area and a manually actuated valve for controlling the flow of fluid from the container to the sponge member together with control means for simultaneously actuating the valve and compressing the sponge member to force the fluid treating material from the sponge member onto the object to be treated.

Other and further objects will be apparent from the drawing and from the description which follows.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation, partly broken away, showing one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in cross section taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 1 showing the valve in closed position and the sponge member in fully expanded condition;

Fig. 4 is an isometric view showing the valve, compressor plate and control rod assembly;

Fig. 5 is a view corresponding to Fig. 3 showing the device in use with the valve in open position and the sponge member partly compressed; and

Fig. 6 is a view in section taken along line 6--6 of Fig. 3.

As shown in the drawings, the preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a rectangular chamber indicated generally by the numeral 10 having a wall 12 which extends around its periphery, the chamber having an open outer or top face as seen in Figs. 1 and 2. The bottom 14 of chamber 10 is recessed as shown in Fig. 1 providing supporting shoulders 16, 16 at opposite ends of the bottom. A generally cylindrical, internally threaded neck member 18 secured to recessed bottom 14 is provided for mounting the device on the screwthreaded neck of container 20. It will'be appreciated that any other conventional mounting means for securing 2,954,574 Patented Oct. 4, 1960 chamber 10 on any conventional container may be provided.

Disposed within chamber 10 is an elastically resilient, fluid-pervious, open-celled sponge member 22 of such a size that in its uncompressed condition it substantially fills the open outer face of chamber 10, as seen in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Sponge member 22 may be made of any suitable material and may be, for example, a regenerated cellulose sponge, a polyurethane sponge, or a sponge of any other natural or synthetic material, the sponge material preferably being a material which is inert to the ingredients of the fluid being dispensed. The opposite ends of sponge member 22 are supported upon shoulders 16, 16 providing a cavity 24 (Fig. 3) between the bottom face of sponge member 22 and the recessed bottom 14 of chamber 10, the volume of cavity 24 being less than the apparent volume of sponge member 22in its uncompressed condition. A valve opening 26 in receased bottom 14 provides communication between cavity 24 and the interior of container on which the device is mounted. A valve 28 is mounted in opening 26 for seating on the lower or container side of recessed bottom 14. A control rod 30 secured to valve 28 ex=" tends diagonally upwardly therefrom, as seen in Fig; 3, passing through an aperture in wall 12. Control rod 30 is provided with a finger knob 32 at its outer end and also is provided with a fixed spline or key 34 seating in a keyway cut inwall 12 adjacent the aperture for control rod 30. i i Control rod 30 is mounted for axially sliding movement and is adapted to move valve 28 to and from open and closed position. Secured to control rod 30 is a compressor plate or squeeze plate 36 which is movable with the control rod and which is mounted between wall 12 and sponge member 22, being normally maintained pressed against the inner face of wall 12 by the elastically resilient nature of sponge member 22. Spline 34 serves to maintain control rod 30 and compressor plate 36 in properly aligned relation with sponge member 22 at all times.

In operation of the device the chamber 10 and container 20 are inverted to the position shown in Fig. 5 and the sponge member is placed close to or against the surface to which the fluid material is to be applied. As illustrated in Fig. 5 the device is being employed to apply a hair-treating liquid such as a hair waving lotion to a tress of hair 40 wound upon a curler. While the device is in this position, control rod 30 is actuated one or more times by pressing against knob 32 with a finger tip. Movement of control rod 30 in response to this finger pressure simultaneously opens valve 28 and compresses sponge member 22 laterally as shown in Fig. 5. This twofold operation permits the fluid material within container 20 to flow through valve opening 26 into cavity 24, coming into direct contact with the inner or bottom face of sponge member 22, and forces out of sponge member 22 any fluid material which is contained in the pores or cells of the sponge member. The fluid material thus expelled is distributed substantially uniformly along the length and width of the outer face of sponge member 22 and is thus applied over the desired expanse. When the finger pressure on knob 32 is released, the elastic resiliency of sponge member 22 urges compressor plate 36 back to its original position against the wall 12 and simultaneously urges valve 28 to its closed position.

While there appears to be an open passageway between compressor plate 36 and side wall 12 when the sponge member is compressed as shown in Fig. 5, and while it might be expected that the treating fluid or liquid would flow directly from container 20 through this open space, thus by-passing the sponge member 22, it is found in practice that by proper proportioning of the size of when the control rod is depressed or actuated only-mo-,

mentarily. It will be noted that the face of compressor plate 36 slides somewhat over the opposing face of sponge member 22 during compression, so that the inner or bottom margin 37 of the plate extends beyond the inner or bottom face of sponge member 22 during compression, as seen in Fig. the plate thus serves as a dam or weir for confining the fluid issuing through opening 26 tothe inner face of sponge member 22.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, chamber and neck member 18 form a single unitary molded element of synthetic plastic material; the assembly shown in Fig. 4 may also be composed of synthetic plastic material, but compressor plate 36 and either finger knob 32 or valve 28must be secured to control rod 30 after the latterihas been inserted through the aperture in wall 12. Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein, it is not intended to limit the invention solely thereto, but to include all of the obvious variations and. modifications within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. p What is claimed is:

I. A dispenser and applicator comprising a chamber having a wall extending around its periphery defining an opening, an elastically resilient, fluid-pervious, open- 30 celled sponge member mounted in the chamber with a portion thereof protruding from the opening defined by said chamber, a valve opening in the bottom of said chamber, means for mounting said chamber on a con- 4 tainer with said opening in communication with the interior thereof, a valve disposed in said valve opening, and

means mounted for sliding movement through the periph-" eral wall of said chamber for simultaneously opening said valve and compressing said sponge memberlaterally of said opening.

2. A dispenser as defined in claim 1 in which said sponge member in its uncompressed condition substanti-ally fills the opening defined by said chamber. 4

3. A dispenser as defined in claim 2 in which'the inner face of said sponge member is spaced'from the bottom of said chamber to form a cavity communicating with said container through said valve opening, said cavity having a volume loss than the apparent volume of said sponge member in its uncompressed condition.

4. A dispenser as defined in claim 2 in which the means for opening the valve and compressing the sponge member comprises a control rod secured to said valve and extending diagonally through said wall, said rod being mounted for sliding axial movement to and from positions in which said valve member is open and closed and a compressor plate secured to said control rod and movable therewith, said compressor plate being mounted between said wall and said sponge member in position to compress said sponge member laterally upon axial movement of said control rod.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,339,366 Williams Jan. 18, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 507,738 Germany Sept. 20, 1930 

